Monday, October 19, 2015

WasteLESS Week 2015 Kickoff

WasteLESS
Week 2015 Kickoff Blog

WasteLESS Week is a five-day campaign run by Sodexo and
Ithaca Dining services to promote waste reduction and helping to protect our
planet’s natural resources. We all have the power to reduce our environmental
footprint and protect life on Earth for years to come!

WasteLESS Week will be filled with fun, engaging activities
throughout the week.

Tuesday will be our Bring a Bag Giveaway. Come to any of
the three Grab-and-Go locations and receive a FREE reusable lunch bag while
supplies last. Paper waste is a considerable portion of what we throw out and
even though much of it gets recycled, even more ends up in landfills. The
United States uses about 30% of the world’s paper supply, with every American
using about 749 pounds of it per year. That’s about 4 billion trees! So we must
make every effort to cut back on our paper consumption even if it’s just
starting with one paper bag a day. By using your reusable lunch bag you can
help reduce paper waste and save the trees that produce the air we need to
breath.

Come to Terrace Dining Hall on Wednesday from 5-7pm for our Taste
It, Don’t Waste It event. Eating everything that you take is an
important thing to do, so make sure you like it before you take a plate full.
With 795 million people on the planet that don’t have enough food to lead
healthy and active lives, every little bit counts. When we consume less food,
there can be more to go around in the places that need it most. During our Taste It, Don’t Waste It, we encourage you
to sample dishes before you take them to make sure you’re not getting a serving
of something you don’t like. Not only does this reduce food waste, but it also
helps us to be more conscious about how much food we take.

Thursday marks the long awaited Hydroponics Grand Opening.
Come to Terrace Dining Hall between 5-7pm to see the new hydroponics setup,
with the dedicated team who created and maintain the system there to explain
how it all works. One key part to being sustainable is reducing greenhouse gas
emissions and a large source of those harmful gasses is the transportation
sector. By growing some of the ingredients that we use in the dining hall, we
eliminate the need for transport and reduce our carbon footprint. Come to
Terrace Dining Hall on Thursday to get a taste of our fresh hydroponically
grown herbs.

Friday’s the big day with our event that started it all, Weigh
the Waste! Come to dinner from 5-7pm at Terrace Dining Hall to take
part in the movement. Tables will be set up collecting and weighing the uneaten
food that gets left on plates. Using our LeanPath tool, we will record how much
waste is collected in order to help us set goals to reduce waste. It might not
seem like a big deal, but the food you leave on your plate ads up quick. In the
U.S., between 30-40% of food gets thrown away, which ads up to about 20 pounds
per person each month! An information center will be set up at our Weigh the
Waste event with food waste facts and tips for reducing your food waste. Help
us make a difference by reducing our food waste at IC and educate yourself about
easy ways to be more sustainable.

Join us at any of our events to fight the battle against food
waste. Together, we can make responsible choices for our planet. ‘Like’ us on
Facebook or follow us on Twitter or Instagram to tell us how you waste LESS!